Inner Darkness
by Masterofmishief
Summary: A Harry Potter fic that was inspired by other dark fics. In this story the horcrux in Harry's head wakes up and starts whispering to Harry well before his Hogwarts letter arrives. How will the Dark Lord Voldemort influence Harry's actions? Dark Harry Fic! No Slash! Rating T! May go up to M later! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Inner Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K Rowling's works, plots or characters etcetera. Everything belongs to her and her affiliates.

A/N

This story was inspired by several dark harry fics; where the horcrux inside Harry's head woke up and either took him over, became his ally or Harry gained his knowledge. This is my very first fic, so please be gentle with reviews, criticize if you believe it to be necessary, and any helpful pointers are greatly appreciated.

Chapter 1

It was an average summer day in Little Whinging, the sun was shining, there were few clouds in the skies, and everyone seemed happy. Everyone but a young dark haired individual. His name was Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world, and wizard himself (Although he didn't know it). Harry was a quiet child. He didn't speak much, and didn't engage with other children his age. At school, teachers questioned the soon to be eleven year old, but Harry kept silent. After all, his Uncle Vernon had been strict in his beatings, and with Dudley Dursley scaring all the other children away, Harry was constantly, alone.

Yes, He was always alone, mused Harry inside his cupboard under the stairs. It was rather dusty, and contained more than one spider or cobweb, but it could have been worse. Or not, he thought as his Aunt Petunia started to bang on the cupboard door.

"Get up you lazy boy! I want my precious dudder's birthday to be perfect, and you better not ruin any of the bacon, or else!" She shouted.

Harry groaned inwardly, he'd forgotten it was Dudley's birthday, and he knew that Dudley was going to do everything in his power to get Harry in trouble. He always did. Harry sighed as he got up from his small bed, and slowly opened the cupboard door so that he could start on the bacon; it was halfway open… before Dudley ran past and slammed it on Harry's face. There was a sickening crack, as it collided with Harry's face, and his glasses frankly, snapped. Harry's last thought as he drifted into unconsciousness, was that he'd get revenge on the Dursley family, and with that last thought, he drifted away.

Page Break

It was an hour later, and Petunia was finally getting worried. As soon as Dudley complained about the brat not getting up from the cupboard, she went to get him, completely ready to drag him by the ear if she had to, and then she'd hand him to Vernon. Yes, a good beating would show the brat who was boss, she thought as she waddled along the hallway. But when she saw the blood, the broken glasses, and a black glow surrounding Harry, she screamed, and screamed again, as she knelt down to shake the boy awake, she called out for Dudley, and immediately asked what he had done. Dudley of course, made up a lie that the brat must have ran into the wall, as he was too busy having breakfast to do something like that. A logical and fair person would have seen that it was an orchestrated lie, but Petunia would always believe that "Dudder's" could do no wrong and quickly accepted the explanation. But what could she do? If she called the ambulance, surely they would see the cupboard, and that would raise questions that she would rather leave unanswered. She quickly made up her mind, and shoved the boy back into the cupboard, and ordered Dudley to get a mop to get rid of the blood. The brat would wake up soon. Surely, she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, in Harry's subconscious mind he was slowly awakening from his slumber. He squinted as his eyes took in the scenery around him. It was dark and dreary and the flooring was… damp? But as he took in the ominous figure in the shadows, he gulped. The man, or at least he looked like a man seemed to have once been a strong and imposing figure but right now, he was eyeing the young child with unveiled curiosity. Harry gulped again as the man took a step forward.

"Hello Harry Potter." He spoke evenly, watching Harry with interest.

"How do you know my name? Who are you? What is this place?" Harry rapidly fired the questions teeming at his mind and was brought back to the present when he heard the man chuckle.

"My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. But, you will know me later as the Dark Lord." The man paused when he said is own name, something of which Harry picked up on. Did he not like his name?

"And I, am a spectre inside your mind. Yes that's right. In your mind" He repeated again as he took in Harry's fearfulness of having someone else inside his own mind.

"But Tom, how did you get here? Or more importantly, how did I get here?" Harry questioned and felt a small amount of guilt after seeing the man sigh and shake his head. He looked… tired almost. Harry thought, as he resumed studying the man, he had high cheekbones, and one would say handsome facial features. His dark brown hair was combed neatly, and his face showed one that wasn't to be messed around with. Harry finished his surreptitious glancing after the man spoke up again.

"Well you see Harry, I am but your… Guardian…" Riddle looked away for a second, as he felt some pity for the young child. After all, they were practically the same. Both raised in a hostile environment, both wizards, although Harry didn't know it yet, and they even looked similar! But as soon as the feeling appeared, Tom quickly smothered it. It wouldn't be fitting for Voldemort to be sympathetic to young children at all would it?

Harry's eyes shined with interest as he took in Tom's words, and fired multiple questions, before a he felt his head explode in pain, and began to blackout. The next day, he awoke and Harry Potter asked himself, was it real? And in the darkness of his mind, a man's chuckle could be heard….

Read and Review Please!


	2. Chapter 2

Inner Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K Rowling's works, plots or characters etcetera. Everything belongs to her and her affiliates.

A/N

Hey Guys! I'd like to thank NinjaBlade871, feral-kuga and Jayne96 for the reviews! And thank you to those that have viewed followed or favoured this fanfiction! So without further ado, here's the next chapter!

Parseltongue = *_Parseltongue_*

Chapter 2

Last time, on Inner Darkness...

_Harry's eyes shined with interest as he took in Tom's words, and fired multiple questions, before he felt his head explode in pain, and began to blackout. The next day, he awoke and Harry Potter asked himself, was it real? And in the darkness of his mind, a man's chuckle could be heard…._

Present Day

Harry slouched in an undignified way, as he struggled to make bacon for the Dursley's. His head was still pounding from his "accident" and unknowingly from his close contact with the Dark Lord. Tom had yet to speak to him again, which made Harry indeed wonder if the dream was real. He knew something had happened; after all, it's not every day that you wake up with your aunt screaming obscenities at you while lying in your own pool of blood. Harry clenched his fist tightly around the frying pan as he remembered exactly how he had come to be surrounded by blood. And to make matters worse, as soon as his horse faced aunt discovered he had awoken, she dragged him off by the ear to make breakfast, again! Honestly, Harry thought. If things continued like this then he was sure he'd go mad. His uncle had already given him yet another beating, and Harry was sure he had at least one broken rib.

His eyes roamed over the Dursleys, as they laughed while watching the television, and he felt his blood boil. How dare they! Sitting and laughing, as he slaved away for them, well, Harry decided he'd had enough, and with that thought, the lights exploded, shattered glass was flung around the room, as Petunia screamed, and an ethereal coldness descended among the room, as Harry's magic answered his emotions. By the time the Dursley's had managed to calm themselves Harry, was gone.

Harry grinned maliciously, as he strode through the door of the Dursley house, free at last! He walked imperiously among the footpath and when he saw Mrs Figg, looking out the window, eyes a wide in shock, he paid little attention, little did he know after Harry walked past, she immediately called The Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore himself. So it was with a great flash of fire that the oldened wizard stepped through Mrs Figg's floo and dashed outside the door of the house, determined to explain to Harry that he had to return to Privet Drive. It was for the greater good after all. But Harry, had already left, and was nowhere to be seen. With a sigh of defeat, Dumbledore made his way towards the Dursley home, where Petunia was still screaming profanities, and Vernon's howls of rage could still be heard. It was going to be a long day.

Page Break.

Meanwhile, Harry was striding through the nearby forest that surrounded the neighbourhood. He had often gone to the forest when he was little, admiring the wildlife and when brave enough, would hesitantly pet the wild deer and fauna inside of the forest. Many of the children in Little Whinging believed the forest to be cursed, and that there were dangerous creatures inside. At this thought, Harry snorted. Dangerous creatures? Like what? Of course, if Harry had paid more attention to those rumours, he would have also heard that men wearing dark robes had been seen inside the forest, no adults believed the children, but it was enough to scare the most curious children away from it. Not that it would deter Harry anyway.

Harry plumped down on a nearby rock as he thought of what he could do. He couldn't go back to the Dursleys, no make it he wouldn't go back to them and anyone that tried to make him would have hell to pay for it. But then, where would he go? Because of his intense thinking, Harry never heard the rustling of leaves as something _slithered _towards him. And it wasn't until said thing slid alongside his lap that he finally noticed it. With a yelp of surprise Harry bolted away from the rock, stopping several metres from it after he heard laughing? Curious, he turned back to the snake that was watching him with amusement. Surely the laughter hadn't come from the snake, had it? Cautiously, he stepped closer. _*Hello?*_ Harry whispered, unknowingly slipping into Parseltongue.

Harry watched as the snake bolted upright in surprise, all traces of amusement gone, and instead replaced with surprise. _*A Speaker! Great Salazar! Another speaker has come! Hail the speaker! Hail!*_ Harry giggled slightly, before recoiling in shock. The snake had just talked! _*You can talk?*_ Harry asked curious about a talking snake. You don't see them every day after all, and Harry would be damned if he didn't have a conversation with it.

_*All snakes can talk young speaker!*_ the snake hissed back at Harry, seemingly surprised that he didn't know that piece of information. Harry flinched at the snake's tone, and hissed back _*I'm sorry. I didn't know. How about you come with me? I've just escaped from my relatives, and until Tom speaks to me again, I won't have any company-*_ Harry was cut off from speaking as the snake hurriedly hissed its agreement,

_*Yes great speaker! I will join you, and teach you our ways!* _Harry smirked as he sat back down next to the snake, and took a moment to admire it. The snake had jet black scales with a light blue underbelly, and its eyes were a striking red.

_*Hmm. But I'll have to give you a name.. Are you a boy or a girl?*_ Harry asked

_*I am a male young speaker!*_ The snake seemed to hiss proudly, to Harry's amusement.

_*Then I will name you Ares, after the god of war. He was a mighty soldier, and no one would ever dare to cross him. What do you think?*_ the snake tilted its head to the side, and then nodded enthusiastically. And thus, with that friendship Harry delved one step closer to the magical world.

A/N

Hope you guys like this chapter, so Dumbledore finally gets involved. Next chapter, Harry will meet the Dark Lord Voldemort once more, and will finally learn about his heritage, and magic. If you have any requests for this fic, leave it in a review, well hope you enjoy!

Question for you guys, would you prefer 1000 word chapters every 1-2 days or a big chapter after 5-6 days?

Read &amp; Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Inner Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K Rowling's works, plots or characters etcetera. Everything belongs to her and her affiliates.

A/N

Sorry for the late update, this chapter is shorter than the others because the trip to Diagon Alley and Gringotts will be pretty long, so this is just a lead up to it. Hope you guys enjoy this small chapter.

_*Parseltongue*_

Last time, on Inner Darkness...

_*Hmm. But I'll have to give you a name.. Are you a boy or a girl?*_ Harry asked

_*I am a male young speaker!*_ The snake seemed to hiss proudly, to Harry's amusement.

_*Then I will name you Ares, after the god of war. He was a mighty soldier, and no one would ever dare to cross him. What do you think?*_ the snake tilted its head to the side, and then nodded enthusiastically. And thus, with that friendship Harry delved one step closer to the magical world.

Present Day

The forest was silent as a soft breeze fluttered through it. It was still morning, and Harry had only just begun to wake up, with Ares comfortably encircled around his neck. Harry smiled softly as he remembered how he had given the snake its name. Ares was his companion now, or familiar as the snake had called it. At this thought, Harry once again felt... nice for a change. He'd never had a companion, with Dudley always chasing potential friends away, he was practically always alone. At least I'll never have to see him again, Harry thought bitterly. And if he did, well Harry preferred not to think of what might happen. Maybe Ares would attack them, He laughed softly as he thought this.

*Ares... Just how deadly is your venom?* Harry hissed at the snake, which slithered onto his arm as he spoke.

*Very deadly master! I can kill anything almost instantaneously! My venom is second only to the great basilisk!* Ares hissed intently, proud of himself.

*What's a basilisk?* Harry pondered, curious about a snake with more potent venom than Ares.

*The Basilisk is the king of all serpents master! He has unimaginable strength, with piercing yellow eyes that kills anything that looks at them!* Ares spoke with awe as he retold all that he could of the great serpent king, silently praying that his master would meet the Basilisk. Harry didn't yet know that Ares was part basilisk, which was why his venom wasn't quite as strong, and seeing how he was still a hatchling, his killer stare hadn't yet developed, something which made the young snake worry about whether the gaze would affect his master or not.

Unaware about his familiars' thoughts, Harry shivered as he imagined a snake with a stare that could kill those that looked at it. Wanting to change the subject, Harry asked Ares if they could finally go to Diagon Alley, so that Harry could visit Gringotts, the wizarding bank, and have his hereditary test, so as to reveal his abilities and find out as to which families he was heir to. Ares had told them that this test was important, and Harry himself was eager to learn just what abilities and powers he may have.

Shaken out of his thoughts, Ares quickly hissed that they could go to Diagon tomorrow, and with that, the two slowly walked off further into the forest, not knowing that a pair of glimmering ruby eyes was watching.


	4. Chapter 4

Inner Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K Rowling's works, plots or characters etcetera. Everything belongs to her and her affiliates.

A/N

This isn't a Super Harry Fic, but he will have powers that distinguish him from everybody else. No Pairings have been decided on yet, but I'm leaning toward Harry and Daphne Greengrass. Leave your thoughts in a review, and enjoy this chapter!

_*Parseltongue*_

Last time, on Inner Darkness...

Shaken out of his thoughts, Ares quickly hissed that they could go to Diagon tomorrow, and with that, the two slowly walked off further into the forest, not knowing that a pair of glimmering ruby eyes was watching.

Present Day

Voldemort was curious, about the young Potter heir that currently seeked refuge inside of the forest that he was currently calling home. It was dark, dreary and overall despairing. Perfect for a Dark Lord, he thought idly to himself. But yes, Harry Potter was an enigma to the spirit of Voldemort. He could speak Parseltongue, a trait that was only passed down to those of Slytherin's lineage, which in itself made him someone to watch out for. The other interesting little tid bit of information, that the boy could already use small sparks of dark, wandless magic also made Voldemort curious about him. Ah the irony of the Boy-Who-Lived using dark magic was not lost on the Dark Lord, and proving true to his Slytherin heritage decided that he would take the young Mr. Potter under his wing. It would be fitting indeed, Voldemort thought. The snake could be a slight problem, as he seemed smarter and sly, compared to the boy, who although displayed Slytherin tendencies, was occasionally loud, and slightly clueless. That fact alone made Voldemort wonder. Surely the boy had lived with a Pureblood family? If he hadn't, then that explained his cluelessness about the wizarding world, but it also gave something new for Voldemort to think about. Now why would Dumbledore want his precious Boy-Who-Lived to be raised ignorant? It was most likely a plot to mould the boy for other nefarious purposes, he concluded with a thought. The old fool would definitely have to go eventually. And Voldemort refused to have Harry Potter become an idiotic Gryffindor that didn't take advantage of every situation, and was sly to a fault. It just wouldn't do to have Harry become a pawn for the light. Any other Parseltongue was his responsibility, and with that last thought, the wraith-like spirit of Voldemort Hurried after the duo, intent on guiding Harry into becoming the greatest dark wizard (Other than himself of course!) of all time.

Harry shifted nervously, as he and Ares walked off to the outer edge of the forest, presumably to apparate to Diagon. He wasn't quite sure where that idea had come from, as he had no idea whatsoever to apparate, and had no intention of, as Ares had said 'splinching'. Harry involuntarily shuddered as he remembered his familiars description of someone splinching, needless to say, it wasn't pleasant. Said snake was currently looking at his master somewhat worriedly. Contrary to what Harry thought, Ares had noticed his master's surreptitious glances over his shoulders, and for the sixth time today, hissed at his master to stop being so paranoid. When Harry complained that he could have sworn someone was watching them, Ares rolled his eyes dramatically. Or, as dramatic as a snake could.

_*Master, if someone was following us, I would have smelt them by now* _Ares hissed softly, trying to reassure his paranoid companion.

_*Ares, Someone is following us. I know it. What If it's a wolf or something?* _Harry hissed back, his almost 11 year old age shining through.

Ares grumbled good naturedly and smartly hissed back that he would protect his master no matter what and stopped slithering alongside his companion so as to lever himself on top of a rock to calm Harry.

It was as Ares did this that Voldemort revealed himself. Harry's breath caught in his throat as he saw the wraith-like spirit glide down from the forest treetops looking as nefarious as ever. His first instinct was to run, but surely Ares would have said something by now? As if in answer to his thoughts, Ares Quickly hissed

_*Do not run yet master, he cannot harm us.* _even upon hearing that, Harry couldn't put his worrying to rest, as the wraith spirit of Voldemort drew itself up to reveal himself. Harry was surprised, really. He expected a ghost to look... scarier. But the resemblance to the Tom Riddle that was in Harry's mind was enough to cause Harry alertness.

"Tom? Is that you?" Harry asked the figure.

"Where did you learn that name boy?" Voldemort hissed as a flicker of rage passed over his features. Practically no one knew him by that name, except for the meddling old coot who would call him Tom just to annoy him. If the boy knew something of his life before Voldemort, then perhaps he had been raised by a dark pureblood family, which of course, was what should have happened.

Harry shied away at the intimidating tone of which Voldemort spoke in, and timidly replied "You told me. When you were in my mind. I thought you were a dream!" Harry spoke quickly, in an attempt to get everything out in case Voldemort disappeared. He continued in an almost whisper "Why didn't you come back Tom?"

In his mind? Voldemort pondered the possibilities. They were endless after all, numerous outcomes, and many, many other objects in question to be placed into the mix. After all, he too had felt something stir inside of him, a feeling that only his horcrux's seemed to elicit. And that feeling occurred around the Potter child. What could it mean? Eventually Voldemort decided to introduce himself, and research deeper into how he may have a connection with the child. He needed the boy to be an ally, considering how powerful the brat seemed to be.

"Ahh, yes it is me child. I couldn't return because... I was busy dealing with a meddling old coot." The idea came at a spur of the moment type time, it wouldn't do any harm to have the Potter heir against Dumbledore from the beginning, and it was far better to strike first, rather than have the old fool sink his claws into the supposed "Boy-Who-Lived".

Due to his curious nature, Harry fell for the sly trick immediately, and didn't hesitate in asking

"Who was the meddling old coot, Tom?".

Voldemort smiled pleasantly, as soon as the child began to speak. Dumbledore wouldn't know what hit him.

"His name is Dumbledore, dear child. He is a horrible wizard, who sacrifices his men for the Greater Good, and most likely put you with your horrid muggle family."

Unbeknownst to Tom, he was now treading a thin line as Harry's heartbeat excelled upon hearing that Dumbledore might have placed him with the Dursley's, and that alone gave Harry a good enough reason to dislike the old codger.

"He sounds like a really bad wizard Tom." Harry spoke quietly, silently debating what to say next, and due to his thinking, he didn't notice the malicious smile that plastered itself upon Tom's lips.

"Tom?" Harry asked timidly, unsure of whether to go on or not. After receiving a reassuring nod from Voldemort, he continued "Can you teach me how to become a Wizard Tom? So I can protect myself from Dumblydore?" Riddle almost laughed out loud from the unintentional mispronunciation of Dumbledores name, but none the less, smiled anyway.

"Of course Harry. Of course."

R&amp;R!


	5. Chapter 5

Inner Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K Rowling's works, plots or characters etcetera. Everything belongs to her and her affiliates.

A/N

So basically, I was reading a story I really liked the other day, and got rather annoyed when I reached the end only to find there was no ending due to the author not updating in a while. Then I realised, that its been practically forever since I've updated either of my stories, and in turn realised that a few people would be annoyed by that. And thus, here we are now with a new chapter for "Inner Darkness" And another soon on my other story, "Undead Awakening" Once again, sorry for the extreme wait. On another note, I found the line tool! Yay! Enjoy the chapter!

_*Parseltongue*_

Last time, on Inner Darkness...

"Tom?" Harry asked timidly, unsure of whether to go on or not. After receiving a reassuring nod from Voldemort, he continued "Can you teach me how to become a Wizard Tom? So I can protect myself from Dumblydore?" Riddle almost laughed out loud from the unintentional mispronunciation of Dumbledores name, but none the less, smiled anyway.

"Of course Harry. Of course."

Present Day:

"So Tom, why are you floating? Can all wizards do that?" Harry asked curiously, now that he knew who the figure was, he wasn't quite as intimidated as before when the wraith that was Voldemort appeared, and was currently pondering the possibilities of how he could do something like that as well. It had so much potential in frightening muggles!

Internally, Voldemort sighed as he realised this would be quite a task and that perhaps he hadn't chosen the correct way to approach this matter. However, Harry's question also reminded the Dark Lord of his own situation, and how little Harry could help him with regaining a body. This caused him to smile maliciously. Upon noticing that the boy was still gazing at him expectantly, Tom sighed again and begun to explain his current predicament to the young child.

"Well you see Harry; I don't quite have a corporeal form right now. This means that my form isn't solid and thus I can't exactly have a physical effect on anything-" Here Voldemort stopped abruptly as he noticed that Harry was staring at him in shock and was gaping widely, giving an impressionable look of a goldfish.

"You mean you can't do anything except float!" Harry exclaimed, horrified at the idea of not eating or drinking, even though the concept wasn't exactly new to him due to life in the Dursley household. Upon thinking about the Dursley's, Harry's mind strayed back to his dramatic exit from the house and in extension, the street. It was a rather memorable moment that Harry would remember forever. They were probably celebrating his absence, Harry though bitterly. They'd never accepted him, which actually made Harry smile, for if he had not left the Dursley's he would have never met Tom in his 'Ghostly' state, and also wouldn't have been able to enact his revenge upon that horrifyingly old fool, also known as Dumbledore.

This led Harry to think about the many ways that he could maim, disfigure or permanently injure the Dursley's and Dumbledore, But sadly he was brought back to the present as he noticed that Tom had begun looking at him strangely due to Harry's evil cackling. Upon noticing, he abruptly stopped and said "Oh sorry Tom I was thinking about how I could freak out Dumbledore and get away with it"

Voldemort however, kept staring due to the thoughts that he had seen in Harry's head due to his remarkable talent at Legillimency, which allowed him to still use the ability even though he wasn't in a physical form. If the boy was already thinking of maiming Dumbledore, then this could be quite advantageous to Tom. After all, he had already used his somewhat dampened magical aura to check Harry's and was startled by how magnificent it was. Streams and dashes of emerald and silver were streaking around Harry's magical core. But what surprised him the most, was the dark blood coloured red that curled around the streaks of green, and immediately knew that it wasn't a part of Harry, as it was the exact same colour as Voldemort's own aura. Moving past it; he was pleasantly surprised to see that Harry's magical core was rather developed for someone of Harry's age, which could mean two things in Voldemort's mind. One, Harry had some hereditary magical talents that he would need to get checked by the goblins for confirmation, and two, Harry had already performed some powerful controlled magic, and his core was developing at a quickened rate due to the flux of magical energy that had flowed through it at that point.

Upon further thought about Harry's magical abilities, Voldemort once more glanced at the demon snake next to Harry that simply wouldn't take its eyes off him which was annoying him to no end. He considered permanently removing the snake, but that train of thought quickly blew to a stop when he noticed the intricate streaks of colour along its back, which symbolised basilisk heritage. Here Voldemort narrowed his eyes, as the snake looked away from him, almost as if Ares knew that he had been found out.

Hearing a slight "Ahem" from Harry, Voldemort turned to face the young Potter Heir to find him looking expectantly at him. After a few begrudging moments of silence, Tom finally gave in and asked "Yes Harry, what is it?" Blushing shyly at Tom's exasperated tone of voice, Harry quickly spoke up, and stated quietly: "Tom, before we found you Ares and I were going to Diagon alley to pick up my school supplies, and go to Gringotts. Can we do that today?" Voldemort quickly glanced back at the snake of which he was sure was a basilisk and found it to be yet again staring at him relentlessly. Even though he knew that the basilisks' stare couldn't harm a speaker of Parseltongue, the eyes still unnerved him as he focused his attention on Harry again.

"Of course you can Harry. I however, must remain here unless I wish to be the cause of a riot." Upon hearing this, Harry chewed his bottom lip, suddenly not as confident in going to the alley, even with Ares' comforting hisses. Looking back at the dark lord, Harry had a sudden stroke of brilliance. If Tom had talked to him in his head before, he could do it again couldn't he?

1 Hour later…

After explaining that Tom could probably talk to him in his head again, Harry watched as an onslaught of emotions warred across the Dark Lords face, which consisted of shock, surprise and eventually curiosity. He calmly told Harry that if there was a connection between the two that would allow Voldemort to speak in his mind, then Harry would need to go into his magical core, and open up the bond. To do this, Harry had to enter a meditating like state, so that he would be able to focus closely enough to distinguish the "Bond" as Voldemort wasn't quite strong enough, as loathsome as he was to admit to it, to be able to do the exercise alone.

Voldemort also mentioned that this would be good practice for the quicker way to accomplish a variation occlumency, which was done by bending a stream of magic from the core, and allowing it to form itself as a somewhat weak barrier that could gradually be strengthened, as Harry's core developed from practicing more magic, much like a muscle in the body. After learning that Occlumency was a way to store and preserve his memories quicker and recall them easier, as well as being the defence to Legillimency, (Here Voldemort passingly mentioned that Dumbledore used it all the time, which caused Harry's face to erupt in a panic) Harry was soon eager to visit his magical core. With a final reassuring nod from Tom, and a soothing hiss from his familiar Ares, he descended into the Occluded state, and was amazed by what he found.

The first thing that Harry noticed was remarkably not his own core, nor the brilliant shades of Avada Kedavra green that pulsed around his aura. Instead, Harry was focused on the sinister blood red stream that curled around his magical core and while at first it gave off an awfully aggressive aura, it soon shifted to one of… Familiarity. Moving close to the string of red, Harry soon realised that the suppressive aura almost seemed to recognise him, which actually unnerved him a fair bit. Deciding to put that to the back of his mind for the moment, Harry glanced back at the emerald greens surrounding him, and thus didn't notice the figure that came up behind him in his mind's mental scape.

A/N

Dun dun dun! Who could it be? I'm sure most of you will figure it out! Sorry for yet again delaying the Diagon trip, but I promise it'll happen next chapter, once the bond is opened! Also, we finally go to Gringotts and discover Harry's heritage, yay! And Voldemort has found out exactly what Ares could be, how will that develop?! Hope you enjoy, and thanks to all who follow, favourite, or review!


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